Ilayda Cakirtekin
12 June 2026•Update: 12 June 2026
France's foreign interference service chief said Thursday that an Israeli company suspected of meddling in French municipal elections was also linked to election interference activities in Scotland and New York.
“This operational method was not limited to municipal elections in France. It also appears to have been used to conduct foreign digital interference operations in other countries or regions, such as Angola, Togo, the elections in Scotland, and also the 2025 municipal elections in New York,” Marc-Antoine Brillant, head of VIGINUM, said during a joint news briefing with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu.
Brillant detailed the agency's investigation into an interference campaign targeting the La France Insoumise (LFI) party and some of its candidates.
“We were dealing with a structured operation involving a wide variety of digital assets, fake websites, inauthentic online accounts on digital platforms, the ability to operate across multiple social media platforms simultaneously, and the use of a wide range of digital tools,” he said.
Brillant confirmed investigators had geographically traced the foreign operator behind the interference campaign to an Israeli company known as BlackCore.
“At this stage, our investigations made it possible to establish a link with a suspected digital influence company called Blackcore, located in Israel,” he said.
He stressed, however, that investigators had not identified the possible sponsor(s) behind the foreign digital interference.
BlackCore is suspected of carrying out a foreign digital interference operation targeting the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party during the campaign for municipal elections held in March.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez also confirmed in May that “an information-operation modus operandi” had been detected and that judicial authorities had been notified.
Lecornu said Thursday on US social media company X that he would consult all political parties on strengthening electoral safeguards, “notably through new expedited legal procedures allowing rapid action against information manipulation.”
“Although it did not have a major impact on the most recent municipal elections, it points to serious threats ahead of the 2027 presidential election,” he added.
